Flamboyant India opener Smriti Mandhana broke the bank in the inaugural Women’s Premier League Auction on Monday in Mumbai. Mandhana, who was part of the first set of players, caused a bidding war as the franchises tried their best to get her on their side for the first season of WPL which is expected to bring a new revolution in women’s cricket. Mandhana was signed by the Bangalore franchise for a whopping Rs 3.40 crore.
The left-handed opener has been the consistent performer at the top for India in the past few years. She has already won several matches for the Women in Blue on her own in the shortest format of the game.
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The 26-year-old Mumbaikar made his international debut in 2013 and was named ICC Women’s Cricketer of the Year in 2018. She was also nominated in the top three for the ICC Women’s T20I Cricketer of The Year in 2021 and 2022.
The southpaw has scored 2651 runs in 112 T20Is so far in her career which includes 20 centuries. Mandhana also brought a leadership quality on the table as she has already led the Indian team on several occasions in the absence of Harmanpreet Kaur.
Mandhana said it was exciting for her to be part of the auction ceremony as she followed the IPL auction for the past many years.
“I was always glued to auctions of men’s whenever it used to happen. And it’s such a big moment for women’s cricket too, for us to have an auction of this sort. So really, I think this is just a history of firstly announcement of WPL and then the definitely this auction,” Mandhana said on Sports18.
“Everyone knows Mandhana and Perry, we were pretty committed to the couple of people we wanted to get. we’re very happy to get such quality players. it’s a dream result for us to get Mandhana, Perry and Devine. Smriti has got plenty of captaincy experience and is familiar with the Indian conditions so highly likely (she’ll be captain),” said Mike Hesson, Director of Cricket, RCB, in the press conference.
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